Scott "Word about Town" @scotthelder-blog - Tumblr Blog

The Ugly Truth of "Buying Votes"

Unfortunately, I am afraid that too many people think the same way:

READ THIS

I voted for you, now you need to do something for me, and by the way, it is because we can not be financially responsible.

Finally, The Facts - Obama

For the first time in quite a while I have read an article that was posted on CNN that outlines all the achievements of our current president. I hope the entire US reads this understands how things have changed since he has taken the presidency.

Read the article here

#Election #Obama #Romney #Voting #President

Video of Sunday Night (Day 3 of the Climb). It was a gorgeous night!! The big bright dot in the sky is the Moon!

Video of the "blizzzard like" conditions on Summit day. Certainly the correct choice to not attempt a Summit, but still extremely disappointing.

Final Post On Mt. Rainier

So,

As most of you have heard by now we did not make a summit attempt due to weather on July 3. Since my last post was July 1, I thought I would fill in the details a bit.

July 1, update:

We ventured from Paradise to Muir. The Clouds were socked in at 5,000 ft (Paradise). After we climbed about 2,000' in elevation we were on top of the clouds and the sun was out. It felt about 50 degrees and could not have been a better day. We finished our climb to Muir (10,000' elevation) and found a place to sleep for the night, tent on the snow.

July 2, we woke up, had a yummy bowl of hot cereal and hot coffee, then prepared to climb through Catherdral Rock to the Ingraham Flats where we hung out for about an hour or so. Then we hiked back to Muir and tried to get some sleep. As we were getting ready to bunk down (around 5:30PM) in the RMI Bunkhouse (no tent tonight we moved out of the tent to the bunkhouse), the clouds started blowing in and the wind picked up. The wind continued all night and little did we know that it was not only blowing in clouds, but also a Snow Storm that was about as bad as it gets. The Guides came in to the hut at 3:00AM on July 3 and told us the summit attempt was not going to happen. The winds were 30 steady with gusts at 50. Summit was worse but unknown. The snow was coming down hard and the temps had dropped to 15ish. The biggest issue was the visability. Only 10-15 ft. This posed too serious a threat to climbing and no one in our group was even able to attempt a climb.

July 3, We all had heard the disappointing news about not being able to make the summit attempt. We were all devestated, but based on the weather it was certainly the right call. We packed up all our stuff and essentially ran down the mountain from Muir back to Paradise. The descent took us 1 hour 45 minutes. We had no breaks and kept moving. It snowed the entire way down. The wind broke at about 6500 ft. When we got down we were all wet (good thing for Gortex). We piled in the Van and drove back to RMI Base Camp. Randy and I hung out there for about 2 hours, then made the drive back to Seattle for our July 4 travel home.

At dinner on July 3 I was able to connect with Chris Vegter, an old college roommate. It was great to see him and connect with him again. He has not changed any and really seems to love Seattle.

July 4, well we flew home, nothing too exciting at all. Just another day. Everything was on time, and we landed in Grand Rapids at about 4:00PM. \

Thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement and for your thoughts through the whole adventure. I can honestly say that I do not have words to describe the complete disappointment from not even getting a chance at the summit. I am not sure if I will ever have the opportunity to get back there again, but if given the opportunity it is an amazing journey and extremely beautiful.

July 1 - the climb begins

All packed and ready to go. Thank you for the words of encouragement: Aunt Clara Toben Amanda Julie Melanie Blake Chris You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Weather looks wet today. Good thing there is gortex. Have a great couple of days. Scott out

June 30.

This is all you get for the next three days... Today was climbing school. We learned a variety of climbing techniques and safety methods. We got to know our guides and our team a bit better. We have a great group. I am sure we will have a good summit attempt on Tuesday. For the next three days there will be no cell or wifi. Keep praying for dry weather. Today turned out to be a great weather day. Lots of clouds and a few breaks. No rain until we for back on the buss to get back to base camp in Ashford. I think you can follow some of our climb at rmiguides.com. Look on the blog and look for something that says June 29 5 day climb. They typically post information on the weather, climb, and success at the summit. I have no new pictures to post. Thank you for the kind encouragement: Toben Gwen Shannon Blake Julie Melanie It is awesome to know that I have all of you praying for me and thinking about me. Please continue to pray for safety, dry weather, and strength for each day coming. Scott out

June 29 cont

Well not much to report on. Took some Advil to sooth some achy legs. Ate some food. Drank lots of water. And oh, I almost forgot, met our climb team and our guide. Pete is the guide. He seems pretty good. I think he will take us to the summit!! The rest of our team seems good too. We even have a cardiologist with us. We will be well taken care of. Tomorrow will be a great day of class time on the slopes learning proper techniques.

Friday. June 29

Nothing to exciting to tell everyone. Slept good, woke up stiff and achy. Thank you: Ray Joe and Rachel Eric Julie Melanie Blake For the notes of encouragement!! Today will be a day to meet our full climbing team and refill on supplies (food). I will follow up with more info later today. Scott out